+
“Sedgwick?” Serene said, entering the living room with Jezebel, looking at her son who was still scraped up from the accident.
“What happened?” She held Sedgwick’s head in her hands looking at the scrapes on his face, then grasped his cut hands. “Sedgwick, what happened to you?”
“We were playing by the cliff and I fell over… Mama, Louie saved me, but Father’s angry at him,” Sedgwick explained.
“Where is he?”
“In Father’s office.” Sedgwick’s eyes peeked beneath his eyelids, and the fear inside of them mirrored what Serene had always feared would happen between her son and Caius.
“Jackson, go with Jezebel and take the children to my chambers,” Serene demanded.
“Your Majesty, you need your rest,” Jackson implied.
“Jackson!” Serene yelled. “As your Queen, I demand you to not speak another word and do what I say.” Jackson tightened his lip and nodded.
She hurried down the large monument hallway where pictures of the royal families from past centuries hung. Pictures she always studied, wondering if those in power were happy. That was all she ever wanted when she was arranged to marry the King. She never wanted power to plague her family’s happiness, but her fears had arrived once she finally reached the tall double wide doors of her husband’s office and opened them to see her son bent forward over the King’s desk with his shirt off. The King looked at his Queen with the black leather belt he had wrapped around his fist. Louie looked at his mother with a sigh of relief and tears in his eyes while his long blond hair lay over his eyes.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Serene yelled through gritted teeth, trying to keep herself from falling due to being weak and ill, as well as the sight of her son being beat and treated like an animal by the man she thought she loved. She ran towards the desk, staring at the dark and bloody bruises on his back. She grabbed Louie and slowly lifted him up. He winced at the pain and Serene brushed his hair.
“Louie, go to my room,” she told him.
As soon as Louie walked out of the door, Serene slapped the King across the face the hardest she could with being ill.
“How dare you!” Serene said.” How dare you beat our son like he is nothing?”
“Because he is!” Caius yelled back. Serene couldn’t believe her husband had gone so far into his beliefs that he would do such a thing.
“We could have lost Sedgwick, meaning we would have lost everything!”
“You have two sons! Two!” Serene informed him. “Are you really that mad that you would be so ill and vile?! Who the hell do you think you are?!”
“I am King!” He stepped closer to her, causing her to jump back. “I am King of a nation by birthright. I am a chosen one by God. I am a god myself. And as a higher authority, I am permitted to do what I please and what I see fit. I will not let anyone or anything, no matter if it’s blood or holy, get in the way of my duty as the leader of this country!”
Serene gasped at the anger in her husband’s eyes. The darkness had finally filled them. A single tear escaped from her eye as she clenched her jaw and stood tall against her husband.
“I swear if you touch either of my boys… especially Louie, King or not, you will regret it,” Serene threatened him. “You are not the man I thought I loved. My whole life I was taught to love you. I now realize I was only forced because from the moment I met you, I saw the glimmer of darkness inside of those green eyes. I may be dying, but I will die knowing that I finally had the courage to tell you what I feel. And what I feel is that you are foul. Foul to the core as you reek of arrogance, hatred, and callousness. No… I don’t know who this man is. The man I thought I loved, never truly existed.”
Being the hardest of men, even he could not hide the reaction in his face. Heartbreak swirled inside of him from his wife’s words. Serene left him to revel in it and that was the last time she ever spoke to him.
+
Jezebel took the rag out of the bowl filled with water and pressed it against Louie’s wounds. Louie didn’t make a sound. He just laid on his mother’s bed with watery eyes looking at his mother who was lying beside him. Sedgwick, Bartelby and Mina were lying on the foot of the bed.
“Brave boy,” Jezebel said, implying how Louie laid there without a sound, even though he was in so much pain.
“Yes, my brave Prince,” Serene said, rubbing her son’s hair.
Sedgwick stared at his brother, feeling guilty for being their father’s favorite and only, but he also envied Louie and his relationship with their mother. He knew his mother loved him, but he knew his mother had a different relationship with his brother. Mina stared at Louie and felt sorry for him. She thought about how today she was scared to lose the two Princes. That is what shocked her the most. Even though Louie annoyed her, she still cared for him, and a part of her understood him. She understood the behavior he displayed because even at twelve, growing up behind the scenes of royalty granted her truth about wealth and power. She saw how each person in that family felt alone.
That night was a pivotal moment in their lives; a beginning, and a loss, that changed a nation forever four months later. The Queen was losing her battle with cancer. The King was heartbroken that ever since that night he laid his hatred on Louie, she couldn’t stand the sight of him. She would die disappointed in him, and to Caius, it was all Louie’s fault. So his behavior towards him did not change. It only grew.
“The Queen has gotten worse, Your Majesty,” said the doctor.
“How long?” Caius asked.
“Within two to four days, maybe.” Caius thought about the number of days the doctor had given his wife to live. He wondered how you could put a number of days on someone’s life.
“Go get the boys,” the King said to Jackson.
+
Louie stood outside his mother’s room waiting for his brother to finish talking to their mother on her death bed. Louie still was in complete shock that his mother was about to die. The one person that ever told him he was good enough. What would he do without her? How would he survive his father’s wrath? As he waited, so did Serenity. Queen Serene was their Aphrodite, mother of good and beauty. Beyond the gates of Serenity Castle, Serenians stood outside holding lit candles, crying and praying for their Queen.
Sedgwick walked out of the room with tears flowing down his face. Louie stood up and stared at his brother. Sedgwick wiped his face and hugged his little brother who continued to stand nonchalant, but reluctantly wrapped his arms around him too. After a minute of embrace and silence, Sedgwick left and Louie entered his mother’s room. He stared at his sick and pale mother lying in her bed. Her beautiful brown hair was now dry and stringy. The pink from her cheeks had turned blue and the glow in her eyes was dull, leaving them still. He sat on the bed next to his mother.
“Hi,” Serene said to her son.
“Hey.”
“How are you?” Serene asked.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I guess okay.” Serene smiled at her son’s stubbornness and defenses.
“My little warrior, always fighting to keep things hidden. So small, but yet so strong, but I fear that inside, the more you fight your desires, wants, and troubles, the more vulnerable you become to a life of self-loathing.” Louie stared off as his mother put her cold and fragile hand over his that was gripping onto her bed, fighting the pain inside of him. “Look at me, Louie.”
Louie slowly turned his head toward his mother. His glassy eyes and twitching jaw and lips caused tears to fall from Serene’s eyes.
“It’s okay, Louie,” she said, still smiling. “It’s okay.”
Hearing those words from his mother triggered Louie’s emotions to unravel. He cried out.
“Come here,” Serene told her son, opening her arms for him to lay with her.
He laid in his mother’s arms, resting his head on her chest. Still crying, he held his mother tightly, never wanting to let her go.
“S
hhhh,” Serene hushed her son and brushed the top of his hair and back. “It’s okay.”
“No it’s not,” Louie said, still crying. “It’s not fair.”
“Look at me. Look at me.” Serene sat up, and so did he. She pulled his face into her hands and stared directly into his eyes, wanting to confirm the words she was about to say.
“You are everything to me and I love you. I need you to promise me something. Promise me that you will live life and be happy, Louie, because you are destined for greatness more than you know. Louie, you’re just like me. You love so much, as much as you try to hide it, you do, and that is what leads to a great man with strength, loyalty, and heart. That, my son, is a man beyond all measures. You are going to change this world someday. You and your brother, you have to stick together, no matter what. I have already apologized to him for never showing enough of how much I truly love him and see the good that he has no matter the weight that is bestowed on his shoulders. That weight will test him, Louie, and I need you to help him. Protect him. He may be older, but you… you my brave warrior, are stronger. I love you both so much. And I know without me, your father’s anger will rise, but you have to forgive him one day, because if you don’t, you won’t be able to move on. And Baby, I want you to move on and have the life you deserve. So be happy, Louie. Strive, love with all your passion, conquer, and have humility, because without that, you become blinded by arrogance. Arrogance is man with power downfall. Promise me that.”
“I promise.” Serene hugged her son tightly and cried out with him as he silently begged God not to take her away from him and leave him alone.
When he finally left his mother’s room, he ran through the castle and didn’t look at anyone, including a saddened Jezebel who was bringing his mother tea.
“Louie!” she called out for him as he ran out the back door of the middle ward, but he did not even look back. He never wanted to look back on this day. With every sprint, his anger and sadness grew. He ran through the fields into the woods without a destination in mind; he just needed release. He finally came to a stop when he tripped over a small hill in the woods, crashing into a muddy puddle. He huffed and puffed as he angrily punched the muddy ground repeatedly until he was out of breath. He looked up into the open sky, peeking over the tall trees surrounding him and angrily cursed at God in his head.
How could it get any worse? he thought to himself, but it did, as he walked deeper into the woods and came across Sedgwick and Mina from far away. Louie quickly ducked down so he wouldn’t be seen. He watched as Mina had her arm around Sedgwick as he laid his head on her shoulder, crying. He watched, wishing that was him lying on her shoulder. He wished he would have just let her in because at this moment, he needed her more than anything. After a minute, Sedgwick raised his head and wiped his tears. Mina did not say sorry or that it would be okay. She knew the pain of losing a mother was more than one could handle. She too had lost her mother in a car accident, which is why she was sent to live with her aunt who applied for a maid position at Serenity Castle.
Mina just smiled faintly at him, rubbing his back, the conviction in her eyes telling him that she loved him and that she would be there for him. Sedgwick stared at her for a second, gazing into her beautiful light hazel eyes and decided to go for what he wanted the most to make up for the loss of his mother. He quickly pressed his lips against hers and immediately pulled back. He gasped at a shocked Mina, looking nervous and scared, waiting for her reaction. Mina then smiled and kissed him back. A simple first kiss that meant more to three people that were in the woods that day. A beginning of first love for Sedgwick and Mina, a love so pure and sweet, and the beginning of Louie’s tortured heart. Their beautiful moment had become his nightmare, and as Louie continued witnessing the magical moment between them, the two people he loved, he realized the meaning of regret. He would never have her. That day, he not only lost his mother, but also the person he would forever be vowed to.
Chapter 2
Ten Years Later
Louie opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling fan above him. He tried to remember where he was, as he had been drinking heavily earlier in the day. He turned to see a beautiful naked blonde passed out asleep. He soon remembered her name was Sarah… or maybe Emily. He had met her eight hours ago at a bar. She was there with some friends. She was a college student and loved reality television, that’s all Louie could remember. On the other side of the bed he saw his pants on the floor, along with another female on top of them who was also naked and had fallen off the bed. That must have been Emily… or Sarah. Her likes and dislikes, he did not know. He didn’t even think there was much conversation, just lots of whiskey and tequila. He gently pulled his pants out from under the comatose red head and searched his pocket for his cell phone to see what time it was. Ten missed calls from Sedgwick and Bartleby. It was 7:50 p.m. He was late. He quickly jumped out of the bed and grabbed his black pants and shirt. Both girls were so drunk and worn out, they barely heard Louie as he fell over trying to pull his pants up. He ran out whichever girl’s apartment it was and headed down the steps while calling Bartleby.
“Hello?!”
“Bartleby, has it started?!” Louie held the phone while trying to put on his shoes.
“It’s about to. Your brother is freaking out. Where are you?”
“I’m on my way. Tell Jezebel to have my crown and a suit waiting for me.”
Louie hung up and ran outside, bumping into his security guard, Wesley.
“Louie.” Wesley gave him a stern look.
“Wesley, don’t worry. We will get there in time,” Louie said, smiling and running to his car. Wesley shook his head and spoke into his earpiece.
“This is Alpha, we have Black Sheep ready to fly.” Four black cars pulled up next to Wesley and he got in the first one.
“Make sure to keep up this time,” Wesley told the driver, Frank, as Louie sped down the street in his jet black Lamborghini. Louie loved speed and did not care for the security that always followed him. He sped through the downtown of the capitol of Serenity and enjoyed the adrenaline rush. Louie’s code name for the security team was Black Sheep. He picked it himself because that was what he was known as, the bad boy, the brother who was reckless and not next in line to be King and in his father’s logic that automatically labeled him the black sheep, the waste of space.
Twenty minutes later Louie arrived at Serenity Castle, home of the royal family. The security immediately opened the gates for the Prince to pull in. He drove down the long narrow road that led to the castle, pulling to the side of the upper ward. Jezebel and Aaron, a valet boy, waited for him.
“You’re late,” Jezebel said with a smirk.
“Come on Jezebel, who would I be without making a late entrance, huh?” Louie said, tossing his keys to Aaron and kissing Jezebel on the cheek as he ran through the kitchen. When he entered his room he saw Jezebel had laid out his maroon suit with a black button up. He quickly showered, rinsing the scent of Sarah and Emily and liquor off him. Throwing on his attire, he opened the black case on his desk, revealing his crown: a gold skinny halo worn by the Princes during royal events, with five jewels: blue sapphire, green emerald, pearl, and black and white diamonds. Louie stood in front of the mirror and placed it on his buzz cut hair. Staring at himself in the mirror, he sighed and rubbed the gold family crest ring on his index finger that was the same as Sedgwick’s, except for it had his name at the bottom. He breathed slowly through his nose, mentally preparing himself for the two thorns in his heart, his father and unrequited love.
+
“Where the hell is he?” Sedgwick fussed at Bartleby.
“He called and said he was on his way,” Bartleby assured him.
“Sedgwick, you know Louie, he’s always late,” Christina Hayes, the daughter of a Chief Justice, said to Louie as she sipped her wine.
“Yeah, well he needs to have his ass on his throne when Mina and the others present Dad’s gift,” Sedgwick said, taking a gl
ance at his father who was greeting his party guests.
“Well, as Mina’s best friend, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want you getting too worked up over your brother.”
“I agree,” Ivy said, touching the arm of the Crown Prince. “You must not be bothered by your brother. I’ll take care of him for you.”
Sedgwick arched his brow and smirked, amazed at the way Ivy Jestow flirted with him, but longed for his brother as well.
Daggers flew from Christina’s eyes as she watched Ivy, the leech, she called her, openly flirting with her best friend’s boyfriend.
Sedgwick glanced at Ivy’s hand on his arm and politely removed it. “I’m sure you will Ivy.” He faced Bartleby. “Come with me to stall Father.”
As Sedgwick and Bartleby left, Ivy flashed a smug smile at Christina. “It’s a shame Mina can’t be out in the open with Sedgwick at these events.”
Christina tilted her head back at Ivy’s bold statement, openly pointing out Mina’s status as a commoner.
“Well it doesn’t stop Sedgwick from completely being in love with her,” Christina said, really wanting to add “Bitch,” but checking herself. As the daughter of a man of the law, it was improper for someone of her status to use crude language. She thought this code of ethics was bullshit.
“Yes, that is so sweet. Young first love.” Ivy grinned. “It helps that she’s well-educated, being related to the help and all. It’s so nice of the royal family to pay for schooling for their servants’ children, don’t you think?”
“I think you should shut it before I ram this wine glass down your −"
“NOW ENTERING, HIS HIGHNESS, PRINCE LOUIE!” the Herald announced, as Louie walked down the grand marble staircase in his dinner suit. Everyone stared at Louie as he strolled down the steps. Women swooned over him and men looked at him, shaking their heads. The boy, they thought, was only lucky and not worthy of a crown.
The Kindness of Kings Page 3